The main US military assets deployed so far:

-- The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group is operating off the northern coast of Sumatra, the area of Indonesia hardest hit by the December 26 tsunami. The two helicopter squadrons, including nine SH-60s, are being used to carry supplies to stricken coastal areas.

The carrier also is capable of distilling 400,000 US gallons (1.5 million litres) of fresh water a day and has a 49-bed hospital with three intensive care units and one operating room.

The strike group also includes two destroyers, a guided missile cruiser and an oil supply ship.

-- The USS Bonhomme Richard, a helicopter carrier, arrived Tuesday in the Indian Ocean at the head of a seven ship group. It carries 19 helicopters, including two CH-53 heavy lift helicopters, eight CH-46 medium lift helicopters, four SH-60 helicopters, two UH-1 helicopters and two AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters.

A force of some 2,200 marines are aboard the amphibious assault ships.

The Bonhomme Richard expeditionary strike group also includes an amphibious transport dock, USS Duluth, and a dock landing ship, the USS Rushmore, to enable amphibious operations in coastal areas. Other ships in the group include a guided missile cruiser, a destroyer, a frigate, and a 378-footmetre) coast guard cutter.

The group carries 12 rigid hull inflatable boats, and five landing craft.

It has an operating room, a stocked blood bank, and 48 hospital beds.

-- The USS Fort McHenry, another dock landing ship, carrying equipment and 400 marines set sail Tuesday from Okinawa, Japan for Indonesia.

-- Six container ships each capable of storing 90,000 gallonslitres) of fresh water and producing tens of thousands more a day are enroute to the region from Guam and South Korea, officials said.

-- A high speed catamaran is enroute from Okinawa to Utapao, Thailand with military equipment, food, cots and clothing. It will be used as a shuttle for military equipment and people between Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

-- US military aircraft deployed in the region include 16 C-130 cargo planes, nine P-3 reconnaissance aircraft, four KC-135 air refueling tanker planes, and 46 helicopters, according to the Pentagon. Longer range C-17 and C-5 aircraft are being used to fly supplies into the region.

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